THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF ANIMALS.

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Page 3 ... by the large proportion of its lowlands, and by the altogether unequalled extent
and luxuriance of its tropical forests. It further possesses a grand mountain range,
rivalling the Himalayas in altitude and far surpassing them in extent, and which ...

Page 4 North of the equator, where its western slopes are moist and forest-clad, most of
the genera are found on both sides. ... and thus the absence of a number of
groups to which verdant forests are essential, can 4 ZOOLOGICAL GEOGRAPHY
.

Page 5 number of groups to which verdant forests are essential, can be traced to the
unsuitable conditions rather than to the existence of the mountain barrier. All
Tropical South America, therefore, is here considered to form but one sub-region.

Page 9 The Cariama of the plains of Brazil, a bird somewhat intermediate between a
bustard and a hawk, is one of these; the elegant Psophia or trumpeter of the
Amazonian forests; the beautiful little sun-bittern of the river banks (Eurypyga);
and the ...

Page 14 Melinaea, Napeogenes, Ceratina and Dircenna are more gaily coloured, and are
among the chief ornaments of the forests. The Satyridae are represented by 25
peculiar genera, many of great beauty; the most remarkable and elegant being ...

Popular passages

Page 159 - regions, not only now but as far back as we can clearly trace them in the past; and, secondly, of the existing radical diversity of the Australian region from the rest of the Eastern Hemisphere. Owing to the much greater extent of the old

Page 61 - to the great Central American isthmus; yet instead of exhibiting an intermixture of the productions of Florida and Venezuela, they differ widely from both these countries, possessing in some groups a degree of speciality only to be found elsewhere in islands far removed from any continent. They consist of two very large islands, Cuba and

Page 552 - catalogued on a uniform plan, and with a uniform nomenclature, a thoroughly satisfactory account of the Geographical Distribution of Animals will not be possible. But more than this is wanted. Many of the most curious relations between animal forms and their habitats, are entirely unnoticed, owing to the productions of the same locality

Page 553 - harmony of nature, and to a fuller comprehension of the complex relations and mutual interdependence, which link together every animal and vegetable form, with the ever-changing earth which supports them, into one grand organic whole.

Page 9 - the South American continent, its long isolation from the rest of the land surface of the globe, and the persistence through countless ages of all the conditions requisite for the development and increase of varied forms of animal life.

Page 81 - probably formed part of Central America, and may have been united with Yucatan and Honduras in one extensive tropical land. But their separation from the continent ; took place at a remote period, and they have since been broken up into numerous islands, which have probably undergone much submergence in recent times. This has led to that poverty of the higher forms of life, combined

Page 342 - islands and sand-banks, and can evidently pass over a few miles of sea with ease; but the Nicobar bird is a very different case, because none of the numerous intervening islands offer a single example of the family. Instead of being a well-marked